Kira Meinzer was appointed as Vice President of Human Resources for AFN in late 2009 as part of AFN’s growth strategy. She has been focused on creating a culture of success and improving employee engagement. “We believe that if we treat our employees well, they will treat our clients well. Happy and engaged employees lead to long-term retention of both our employees and our clients,” Kira said. “We’ve listened to our employees and have made adjustments over this past year to improve their work/life balance. For example, we increased employees’ paid time off and instituted a child care leave program that allows for paid time off for parents of a newborn or adopted child.” Additionally, AFN employees enjoy a casual dress code, an on-site fitness center and free lunches every Friday.

“Our employees enjoy the fact that we encourage them to shape their own careers. Plus, our managers are continually training and offering support for our staff to foster an easygoing, open working environment,” said AFN President Ryan Daube. For more details about the award, visit the Chicago Tribune Web site.

About AFN

Serving motor carriers, manufacturers and retailers since 2003, AFN (formerly known as Advantage Freight Network) is a recognized leader in freight brokerage, third party logistics and transportation management services. We are known for our commitment to client service, our proactive approach to fighting cargo theft and our expertise in retail compliance. To learn more about AFN, visit http://www.loadafn.com or call 877-LOAD-AFN.

Over the past year, AFN has been focusing on implementing policies to help us keep our customers’ freight safe, and recover stolen property in the event of a theft. This week, we had an opportunity to test our procedures when one of our high value shipments was stolen. By utilizing our high tech tracking devices and relationships with cargo theft groups and local law enforcement, AFN was able to recover the shipment in less than eight hours. Additionally, our efforts led to the recovery of over one million dollars worth of property from seven other thefts.

This recovery was possible because of AFN’s enhanced security efforts. First, our relationships with CargoNet and local law enforcement helped us to know exactly who to contact in the event of a theft. Plus, in this case, the police went above and beyond the call of duty to help us recover our customer’s shipment.

AFN also invested in state of the art tracking devices that we use on all of our high value loads. The specific information that we gathered from the device was critical to helping the police locate the stolen shipment. According to Sgt. Ken Huerta of the Cargo Theft Interdiction Program, “this is a great example of the industry supporting law enforcement operations through pre-planning, the deployment of technology and through enhanced information sharing.” 

Although we take measures to prevent cargo theft, occasionally it is unavoidable. That’s why we also focus on freight recovery. We are proud that our policies helped us recover the stolen shipment in record time.

We continue to work very closely with major retailers and during the course of 2011 we were awarded preferred carrier status at two of these major retailers, Target and CVS. This “preferred status” is a recognition of our commitment to these partners, and to the manufacturers who ship their products into them.

Using a preferred carrier provides you some automatic benefits, which vary by the retailer. Some examples of these benefits are listed below.

By using a Target preferred carrier, you’ll be able to:
– Prevent supplier fines (from on-time failures)
– Keep missed appointments from affecting your supplier scorecard
– Gain the ability to drop shipments at Target locations

By using a CVS preferred carrier, you be able to:
– Prevent supplier fines (from on-time failures)
– Keep missed appointments from affecting your supplier scorecard

To learn more about how you can benefit from AFN’s preferred carrier status, contact your AFN representative or call us at 866-LOAD-AFN (866-766-8348).

This year, editors selected the top 100 3PL’s from a pool of more than 300 companies. According to Ryan Daube, President of AFN, “we’re honored to be chosen for this list, and we look forward to another successful year.”

During the summit, participants benefited from a number of educational sessions. Topics included, tips on managing fuel efficiencies, retail supply chain strategies, moving high-value freight, and the effects of the economy and regulatory environment on market conditions.

Attendee Scott Genslinger, senior director of transportation at Nash Finch/MDV commented, “We walked away from the AFN event with some great ideas on how to grow our business, and save money on fuel costs.”

Michael Nervick, principal at AFN adds, “We’re always thinking of new ways to help our clients succeed. This collaborative event helped attendees learn new techniques for tackling industry challenges and ways to make their businesses more efficient.”

As an innovator in the transportation industry, AFN plans to host the Strategic Partnership Summit annually to continue to support the changing needs of clients.

ABOUT AFN

Serving motor carriers, manufacturers and retailers since 2003, AFN (formerly known as Advantage Freight Network) is a recognized leader in freight brokerage, third party logistics and transportation management services. We are known for our commitment to client service, our proactive approach to fighting cargo theft, and our expertise in retail compliance. To learn more about AFN visit www.loadafn.com or call 877-LOAD-AFN

August 18, 2010 01:21 PM Eastern Time NILES, Ill.–(EON: Enhanced Online News)–AFN today announced they have been named a 2009 Partner in Progress for Sears Holdings Corporation. AFN received the award for its commitment, quality and innovation.

“For 29 years, the Partner in Progress program has recognized our top-performing supplier partners for their commitment to supporting our company’s vision of improving the lives of our customers by providing quality services, products and solutions that earn their trust and build lifetime relationships” The prestigious Partners in Progress award is presented annually to a select group of supplier companies that provide Sears Holdings with quality products and services, from apparel, appliances and tools to marketing, facilities design and technology. Less than one percent of Sears Holdings’ over 30,000 suppliers earn the coveted award each year.

“For 29 years, the Partner in Progress program has recognized our top-performing supplier partners for their commitment to supporting our company’s vision of improving the lives of our customers by providing quality services, products and solutions that earn their trust and build lifetime relationships,” said Bruce Johnson, interim CEO and president. “This program is a testament to the importance of collaborating with our supplier partners to better serve our customers and increase productivity.”

“We are extremely honored to be recognized as one of the top performing logistics partners from one of our most valued clients, Sears Holdings Corporation,” stated Michael Nervick, one of AFN’s founding members and its President. According to Mr. Nervick, “the Partners in Progress Award speaks volumes about all the hard work and dedication that our employees put forth on behalf of our customers like Sears.”

The Partners in Progress program recognizes suppliers for product or service quality, innovation, diversity and overall market performance. The winners were selected from nominations submitted by Sears Holdings’ associates who purchased goods and services from suppliers for the company in 2009.

ABOUT AFN

AFN, formerly known as Advantage Freight Network, provides freight brokerage, third party logistics and transportation management services for many clients in a number of industries, including consumer products, apparel, electronics, food & beverage, and paper & packaging. AFN chairs the Government Affairs Committee for the National Cargo Theft Prevention Task Force as part of its continuing effort to combat cargo theft in the United States. AFN also has a significant presence in Washington D.C., actively lobbying for and participating in the formation and revision of many laws that affect the logistics/transportation industry. For more information visit our website at www.loadafn.com or call us at 877-Load-AFN.

AFN began working with Lawrence Foods on a transactional basis in June of 2008. AFN typically moved ‘less than truckload’ shipments to various bakeries, foodservice and grocery retailers all over the United States. According to Marcus Weiss, the Customer Service Manager on the Lawrence account, “we demonstrated that we could provide more value by analyzing their freight spend on a cost-per-bound basis and providing other useful key performance indicators to make their business more profitable.” When asked why Lawrence Foods chose AFN, Mike Wrobleski, Director of Supply Chain, responded by stating: “In order to remain ultracompetitive, we needed to partner with a third party logistics company that is considered the expert in their respective field. We chose AFN to fully outsource our transportation needs from a truckload, less than truckload and intermodal perspective.”

According to Doug George, Director of Transportation Management Services for AFN, “More and more of our customers are looking to us to manage critical parts of their supply chain while they refocus their efforts on their core competencies. Lawrence Foods is a prime example of a company that recognizes the need to outsource this strategic part of their supply chain in order to drive down costs and provide the value its customers are looking for.”

ABOUT AFN

AFN, formerly known as Advantage Freight Network, provides freight brokerage, third party logistics and transportation management services for many clients in a number of industries, including consumer products, apparel, electronics, food & beverage, and paper & packaging. Co-Founder Ryan Daube adds, “Our biggest success stories have come from the vendors and suppliers in the food & beverage industry who have utilized our expertise in retail distribution management to look for new and more efficient ways of delivering their products to their retail customers.” For more information visit our website at www.loadafn.com or call us at 877-Load-AFN®. 

JARED S. PALMER
General Counsel, AFN, LLC, USA

As General Counsel and Director of Security for a United States based logistics
company, I have had the unique experience of dealing first hand with the theft of our
clients’ cargo. Through this experience my company and I have decided to become more
active in the fight against cargo theft. We recently became active members of the
National Cargo Theft Task Force, which was created and organized by law enforcement,
insurance and logistics industry entities dedicated to the fight against this growing
problem. The following paper will focus on who is involved in cargo theft, how it is
occurring, what items are being targeted by the criminals, how cargo theft affects the
economy, what the National Cargo Theft Task Force is doing to combat the problem and
finally how insurance can be utilized to protect or make the victims of cargo theft whole.

Cargo theft is not some sort of new sensation that has been brought about by the
recent economic turmoil. In fact, cargo theft has been around for centuries in some
fashion, whether by pirates stealing valuable cargo from the seas or by bandits on horses
robbing stage coaches. Today, cargo theft has taken on a new form due to the shift in
how cargo is transported. Trucks, ocean containers, rail cars and warehouses have
replaced horse drawn carriages, and instead of pirates or bandits we are dealing with
organized international theft syndicates operating in several countries around the world.

With more and more people out of work and the need for every day staple items like food
and clothing staying relatively high, the demand for black market items is on the rise.
Cargo theft is an international problem that affects consumers and businesses
alike. In today’s global economy, the manufacturing and sourcing of materials takes
place in one part of the world, while the shipping, warehousing and consumption of the
finished product takes place in another part of the world. Cargo theft can happen at any
point along the supply chain and its very existence threatens the integrity of our products
and the availability of these products for the end user.

In the United States, the cargo thieves are highly sophisticated, organized and
generally speaking not home grown. In Cuba, truck drivers and common thieves are
recruited and trained by Cuban crime syndicates and brought back to Florida to establish
their home base of operations. In California, violent gangs like MS-13 (also known as
Mara Salvatrucha, with its leaders originating from El Salvador), have been known
participants in the cargo theft arena. In parts of Canada the Chinese Triad has been
linked to several reported cargo thefts. According to various law enforcement reports,
most of the stolen cargo in the United States is brought back to ports like the port of
Miami and exported on ocean containers to countries such as Paraguay, Venezuela,
Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, where it is then
sold through black market distribution channels. Europe, in particular the United
Kingdom, has also seen an increase in reports of cargo theft and related crimes. 

However, in Europe the crimes have become more violent in recent years. Eastern
European crime families are still very prevalent in the cargo theft world. Mexico is in the
middle of a serious drug war crisis and violence is all too commonly associated with the
hijacking and taking of cargo by these warring drug cartels. Lastly, very serious concerns
have been raised that the money generated by various organized cargo theft rings in the
United States is being funnelled back to terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda and
Hezbollah in order to help fund future attacks against American interests.

The actual taking of the cargo can be quite complex. The following details a
typical cargo theft scenario:

The cargo thieves do research on where the cargo is being stored, manufactured
or brought into the United States. They go online and use the internet as a search tool to
seek out information on industrial parks and the location of manufacturing/distribution
facilities where they can target items that can easily be brokered through a “fence”. The
thieves then formulate a plan to either break into the manufacturing or distribution
facility or set up surveillance positions outside of the facilities to monitor the shipping
operations, in particular the use of trucks to ship the commodities. Depending on which
modus operandi the thieves operate under (i.e. breaking into the physical building or the
stealing of the truck and trailer), they will then wait for the moment of opportunity to
strike. If the modus operandi is to steal the truck, the thieves may have already secured a
warehouse to temporarily store the stolen freight, as well as taken possession of a stolen
truck to attach to the stolen trailer, and then possibly stolen another trailer to off load the
cargo into. Often the drivers of the trucks are paid to “give up” their trucks at rest stops
or fuelling stations when the driver is stopped. Other times the driver is stopped and has
left the truck and trailer unattended. The thieves are knowledgeable and trained on how
to gain access to the truck, manipulate the ignition system and drive off with the stolen
equipment. If the trailer is not connected to the truck (often referred to as a dropped
trailer or unattended trailer) the thieves will use their recently acquired stolen tractor to
hook up to the loaded trailer and relocate the trailer to a secured location, or alternatively,
the thieves off load the trailer into an empty trailer to further hinder the ability of law
enforcement to recover and locate the stolen trailer. Even more telling of how complex
and sophisticated the criminals are is how they often steal the truck and/or trailer and
“dump” it on the side of the road or in an industrial area. The criminals do this in order
to test whether or not there is any tracking system embedded in the truck and/or trailer
and to see if any type of law enforcement or other entity is monitoring the stolen
equipment. If they believe nobody has followed the truck and/or trailer, they will then
move it to the secured warehouse location and begin breaking the product down for its
resell on the black market. This may entail changing the packaging, relabeling the boxes
and even creating falsified bills of lading or customs paperwork to facilitate the
movement of the stolen cargo out of the country. One might ask why customs or law
enforcement is not inspecting these containers or trailers when they are being exported
out of the country. The reality is that it is nearly impossible to ask for this kind of
screening for containers coming into the United States, and to reverse that process would
be cost prohibitive. Again, this is something I believe the criminals have already factored
into their plan and why they are so successful in what they do.

In the United States the most highly sought after cargo consists of
pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, apparel and food. Any product can be stolen, but
these commodities are reported stolen most consistently, according to the various law
enforcement and insurance entities tasked with monitoring and dealing with cargo theft
situations. As demand and prices for certain goods rises, the cargo thieves react to that 3
information by updating their list of commodities to target and fence. For example, when
the price of metals like gold, platinum, copper, or steel increases, the rate of theft of these
commodities increases. Again this shows the level of sophistication that these criminals
are undertaking to keep their criminal enterprises profitable. With the current economic
crisis, food and other “necessities” like bottled water have seen a sharp increase in
reported thefts over the past several months.

When goods are stolen in the scenario above it has a rippling effect on the
economy. Take for example the theft of a truck load of Nintendo® Wii™ gaming
stations that were on their way to be delivered to a Best Buy® distribution center that
serves the greater metropolitan Atlanta area the week before Christmas. Best Buy®
won’t be able to replace that shipment in time from the vendor in order to meet the
demands of its customers. Instead those customers will seek out another retailer in the
same area that has the desired product. Best Buy® will also lose out on potential related
sales like games and accessories because that customer will more than likely be turned
off that the store did not have the product that was promised to them a few weeks earlier.
The trucking company involved will most likely be held liable for the loss and have to
pay Nintendo® or Best Buy® for the amount of the stolen product. Even if the trucking
company has insurance (we will discuss later that this might not be as likely as you think)
it may not cover the entire loss because of the policy deductible or it will result in higher
insurance premiums next year as a result of the reported loss. Then the trucking company
will start charging more to transport this product from origin to destination in the future
to cover the additional losses it incurred either through out of pocket expense or by
paying higher insurance premiums. Those additional transportation costs will be passed
onto Best Buy® who in turn will pass those additional costs on to the customer. The
government could potentially lose out on needed revenue through sales tax of those
items. As you can see the domino effect from this one loss is nearly endless. Take all of
these negative aspects of cargo theft combined with the fact that we are in a severe
depression, and you have a recipe for a global economic meltdown. Not to mention the
fact that when goods like perishables or pharmaceuticals are stolen the thieves are not
storing them in a temperature controlled environment and therefore there is the potential
for a serious health crisis if that product is sold in mass quantities to the unsuspecting
public.

The National Cargo Theft Task Force is spearheading the effort to greatly
reduce the amount of cargo theft in the United States and to find a more permanent
solution for this growing problem. Before you can tackle a problem you first have to
know how big of a problem you have. The difficulty in doing that, at least in the United
States, is that cargo theft is not always reported and even if it is, it is not reported as cargo
theft by the various law enforcement agencies. Various estimates have been given that
put the amount of cargo theft in the United States at about $30 Billion (U.S. Dollars) per
year. The reality is the problem is probably much larger. It has also been reported that if
you added up all the different types of thefts like identity theft, bank robberies, jewelry
heists, etc., the total of all those thefts combined would not equal the amount of losses
suffered as a result of cargo theft. The media has done very little to report on this
growing problem except in areas of the United States where a cargo theft task force is
present and actively working on curbing the efforts of these criminal gangs. The
National Cargo Theft Task Force is working on getting more media attention and
working on educating the transportation professionals, insurance professionals, law
enforcement agencies and the government on how to measure, report, prevent and punish
those involved in the theft of our cargo. 4 Jared S. Palmer

The first and most important step is to get people to report that a cargo theft
occurred, but herein lies the root of the problem. When you ask a victim of a cargo theft
if they had a choice between recovering their stolen cargo or being made whole
financially, the majority of the victims would probably choose the latter. Even if the
answer was the former, if you are dealing with perishables or quality control issues
presented by products like pharmaceuticals, the recovered goods may not be able to be
used or sold, thus resulting in a total financial loss. Being made financially whole comes
at a cost as well. Additionally, there is a concern of further repercussions if the loss is
reported, such as a negative public perception about the particular trucking company.
The trucking company could lose current or potential customers for fear that the trucking
company was involved in the theft or does not have proper security standards and
protocols in place. Retailers don’t necessarily want to publicly acknowledge that they
have supply chain issues either, in case it gives one of their competitors a strategic
advantage. So before groups like the National Cargo Theft Task Force can go to
Congress and demand more funding or tougher laws, we need to encourage the victims of
cargo theft to come forward and accurately report the losses. The National Cargo Theft
Task Force is already working on ways of storing and mining the data so that it will be
useful for its intended purposes with the ability to protect the privacy of the victims who
are providing the raw data.

As mentioned above, the insurance industry is playing a significant role as
members of the National Cargo Theft Task Force to combat this very serious theft
problem. A common question that is raised is, how can insurance be utilized to make the
victims whole or to protect the trucking company that had their truck stolen by these
gangs of thieves? Anyone that has insurance knows how complex the wording on the
insurance policy can be. Underwriters are tasked with writing and properly assessing the
risk that each policy is being subjected to. As more and more cargo thefts have been
reported, and subsequently losses paid by the insurance companies, there has been a
direct correlation to the amount of insurance policies that have been written for the
trucking industry that exclude some very interesting things. For example, many cargo
insurance policies have been written to exclude protection/coverage if the truck is left
unattended. Additionally, there have been geographic limitations placed on the same
policies whereby they exclude theft losses if those thefts occur in the areas that have high
theft rates, like Miami, FL or Los Angeles, CA. Specific types of goods are also
excluded from coverage, and coincidentally, they tend to be the goods like consumer
electronics, apparel, and pharmaceuticals because of their targeted nature. Finally, you
get some policies that either won’t cover the theft if the driver is involved or won’t cover
the loss if the loss is a result of theft. Assuming you actually spent the time to discuss all
the ins and outs with your agent or insurance broker prior to getting the insurance policy
(which unfortunately, many people in the industry do not), you may be able to purchase a
policy that does afford you all of the protections that you need in order to operate in this
current market. However, the premium that you will pay for having these additional
coverages will cost you plenty. Then, what happens if you do have a loss? Do you report
it and risk having the policy premium increase as a result of the loss? Will the trucking
company or person reporting the loss through their policy be able to pass that additional
premium cost along to the manufacturer or customer? What if the insurance company
decides to cancel the policy after the loss is paid out? These hypothetical’s are not really
hypothetical’s. These are the issues that we as members of the logistics industry face day
in and day out. No matter which scenario plays out above, the consumer will be taxed
with the additional expenses caused by cargo theft. At the end of the day we can’t fix
this problem through insurance coverage alone. Although insurance alone won’t solve
the problem, we cannot become and ostrich and bury our head in the sand either. The 5
insurance companies are probably in the best position to gather all the data and accurately
report the statistics to the crime fighting bureaus. Without these statistics there can be no
true understanding of the problem and without a true understanding to the problem we
cannot begin to put the resources in place to resolve the problem. Therefore, my solution
for the above questions is to report the issues and work with an insurance company that
understands your business well enough to properly charge you for the risk that your
business is involved in and offers you some type of gain share pain share when it comes
to losses.

A better collaboration needs to take place between the various entities
mentioned herein and that process has already begun. In October 2009 the National
Cargo Theft Task Force is hosting a summit in Washington D.C. Numerous members
from the insurance industry, law enforcement, logistics and transportation, as well key
members of our government will be in attendance. We are hosting the summit in
Washington D.C. because we need to bring this issue to the national spot light. By
raising awareness and spreading the word through proper media attention, we are
optimistic that this crisis will get the attention it has long deserved. The summit will be
followed by strategic meetings with key members of the federal government and the
government affairs subcommittee of the National Cargo Theft Task Force. The focus of
these meetings is to demand a federal response and outline the framework within which a
proper solution can be achieved.

Jared S. Palmer, Esq. received his B.S. in International Studies and Business Law from
Indiana University in 1999 and his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 2002 with
a concentration in Intellectual Property. He has been the General Counsel for AFN®
since 2004. Jared is an active member of the National Cargo Theft Task Force and serves
as its Chairman of the Government Affairs Subcommittee. He also serves on the
executive committee for the Transportation & Logistics Council. He has published
numerous articles on contracting and the perils involved with shipping high value and
high risk freight.

• Paschall Truck Lines, Inc. – Walmart Consolidation Carrier of the Year
• Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. – Less-than-Truckload (LTL) National Carrier of the Year
• Tony’s Express – Less-than-Truckload Regional Carrier of the Year
• Schneider National – Truckload Provider of the Year
• AFN, LLC – Best New Transportation Vendor of the Year

CaseStack’s Transportation Management team conducted a detailed analysis of the company’s 400 plus carriers to select the best performing companies in each category. Providers were rated against several metrics,including operational performance, on time service, problem resolution, pricing, efficiency, availability and overall service quality. Winners were presented with crystal awards and a certificate honoring their commitment to transportation excellence.

In an effort to reflect CaseStack’s expanding portfolio of services, officials added three new categories this year: Walmart Consolidation Carrier of the Year, Less-than-Truckload Regional Carrier of the Year and Best New Transportation Vendor of the Year. “These awards are a direct result of each company’s superior reputation for reliability, quality and customer service,” said Dan Sanker, president and CEO of CaseStack. “We look forward to continuing our excellent relationships with all the honorees in 2010.”

For more information on any of the five winners, visit: http://www.ptl-inc.com http://www.odfl.com http://www.tonysexpress.com http://www.schneider.com http://www.afnww.com

About CaseStack

CaseStack (www.casestack.com) is a sustainability-focused supply chain innovator that provides logistics outsourcing services to companies selling products to retailers, distributors and other manufacturers. CaseStack combines an advanced transportation and warehousing system with proprietary, web-based software to provide end-to-end fulfillment services that enable customers to reap the benefits without all the infrastructure costs. CaseStack has received awards from Ernst & Young, Deloitte and Inc. magazine, recognizing it as one of the fastest-growing and technologically-advanced logistics outsourcing companies in North America. Media Contact: Liz Abrams Marketing Associate CaseStack O: 479.856.6140, ext. 2112 C: 479.409.7682 eabrams@casestack.com Find us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Pictured above: David Cardadeiro, senior director of client development; Katy Sujack, AFN national accounts manager; Jennifer Lutenski, AFN operations representative; Adam Wakefield, AFN vice president of operations; Bill Van Vacter, CaseStack client development manager; Steve Sezna, CaseStack vice president of operations on Feb. 10, 2010 in CaseStack’s Fayetteville, Ark. regional headquarters.